Are You Ready for the Tablet Rally?

More of us will work from the road in 2012. According to a new survey from the business-to-business daily deals site RapidBuyr, 49% of small business owners plan to buy a tablet in the next six to 12 months. Another 44% said they planned to purchase a mobile phone.

Other than Amazon.com's (NAS: AMZN) Kindle Fire, alternatives haven't shown much oomph. For example, Research In Motion's (NAS: RIMM) PlayBook has gained market share in its home country of Canada after slashing prices. This week the company added in-device email more than a year after rivals included similar functionality.

Who benefits most from rising tablet demand? My money is on Apple for three reasons:

Ownership. Whereas Google licenses Android, Apple owns everything cooked into the iPad. More sales will always result in more revenue and profit. On the other hand, big demand for the Kindle Fire -- 6 million units sold in the holiday quarter, according to reports -- might mean nothing for the Big G. Only Amazon profits directly from those sales.

Upgrade cycle. Say what you will about Apple's selling 15.4 million iPad 2s in Q4; it's been almost a year since the iPad 2 came to market. Rumors that a high-resolution iPad 3 will reach the market next month have fueled an ongoing rally in the Mac maker's shares, no doubt attributable to Apple's long history of enjoying success when taking its time with product line refreshes.

Android limits. Finally, there's little to love about Android tablets as media alternatives. Yes, my Galaxy Tab runs Netflix, and that's great. But it also can't download episodes of newer TV shows from iTunes or Amazon Instant Video. Nor can I buy and play movies other than what's on YouTube. As a TV replacement, it's a two-horse race between the Fire and the iPad.

Of course, Apple and Google are just two of several companies benefiting from the rise of mobile computing. The Motley Fool recently identified a hidden winner in a report titled "The Next Trillion-Dollar Revolution." The research is free, but only for a limited time. Get your copy now.